


sticks and stones may break your bones

by yoonminoml (fanficloverme96)



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Canon Compliant, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26356237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanficloverme96/pseuds/yoonminoml
Summary: And needles may hurt your mouth. Do not eat them.[aka Riku gets hurt by an obsessive fan and Tenn panics.]
Relationships: Kujou Ten & Nanase Riku
Comments: 11
Kudos: 148





	sticks and stones may break your bones

“Happy Birthday, Nanase Riku-san! Kujou Tenn-san!”

Tenn gives a charming smile towards the camera as he waves to the audience who are watching from their homes, thanking the staff for the birthday wishes. Seated beside him, Riku’s waves are more energetic as he giggles shyly at the attention. His cheeks are slightly flushed - a sign of his happiness - and he basks in the attention everyone in the studio is giving the pair of twins.

They’re currently filming another segment of their Rabbittube where the twins would share the broadcast instead of doing it separately. Riku, as expected, had been ecstatic when he heard the news. During his own solo segment, his excitement showed in the way he bounced in his seat and the way he non subtly tried to catch Tenn’s eyes who watched him from behind the cameras.

Tenn had been tempted to scold him for his lack of professionalism, but looking at his brother now, genuinely excited and happy to film with him, he decides to hold his tongue and indulge his brother. Just for today. 

“For our next segment, the staff prepared separate games for us to play based on the fans’ choice. We will swap games after our own turn and compare scores,” Tenn says, reciting the script perfectly from memory.

“Thank you for these fun games, everyone!” Riku chimes in beside him, “I-I won’t lose to Te - Kujou-san!” 

His delivery, while less smooth than Tenn’s, is filled with infectious excitement. Already, Tenn could see the staff members smiling behind the cameras, looking at Riku with a gaze of fondness. 

“Mhm,” Tenn agrees, “I won’t lose to Nanase-san either.”

In truth, though it was supposed to be a surprise as to what games they will play for today’s broadcast, Tenn already knows what they are going to do. Anesagi had prepared the program list in advance for him to look over, and he’s sure the young manager of IDOLiSH7 did the same for Riku, but judging from the genuine excitement reflected in Riku’s eyes as he waits for the staff members to reveal the games, he must have not read it.

Either that, or Riku is a remarkably good actor.

Tenn will have a puzzle game - to solve a 50 piece puzzle within 5 minutes. The picture should be simple enough and Tenn already has a strategy for it so he’s sure he can pull off the task. Riku’s game is slightly harder; he will be given five bags of cookies and have to randomly guess which one came from a famous bakery in Tokyo. The rest were bought at the nearest convenience store. He is also given five minutes to guess.

Then, they’ll swap, with Riku being given a different puzzle set and Tenn a different set of cookies.

When he was reading the program list, he had seen a separate sheet stapled at the back which showed the statistics of the fan survey for the choice of games. The number of respondents for Riku’s survey had exceeded Tenn by a few hundred people, and two years ago when IDOLiSH7 first debuted, Tenn would have been surprised.

Now, he could almost expect it.

The group has been gaining popularity as of late, but Riku’s popularity isn’t rising steadily in tandem with his group. Instead, it grows by leaps and bounds, even landing Riku in a ranking Tenn really wishes he didn’t. Different popularities between members of the same group is nothing new in the idol industry, but Riku’s different somehow. Different in a way that Tenn couldn’t explain.

Different in a way that worries him. Because Tenn had experienced first hand what it’s like to have a lot of fans. Out of the hundreds and thousands of people who may love and adore you, there is usually at least one fan who takes it to another level with their “love”. Considering how much influence Riku has on his fans these days, Tenn hopes his brother will never have to meet such a fan.

“Let’s all see what game was chosen for Kujou-san!” Riku says, breaking Tenn from his reverie. Tenn quickly slips back into his charming smile which turns a little fond when Riku makes a drumroll sound from beside him.

Tenn pulls out the card from the pink envelope with a flourish, pretends to read it for a second before flashing it to the camera.

“My game is “Solve a 50 piece puzzle in 5 minutes”!” Tenn announces, hiding the fact that it is just as he expected. “Wow, this sounds quite hard. I’ve played a few puzzle games every now and then but never under such a tight time limit.”

“You can do it, Kujou-san!” Riku cheers.

Tenn’s expression softens. “Mmph. With Nanase-san cheering me on, I’ll do my best.”

He completes it with no trouble at all - the image is simple to begin with and the corners were well distinguished - so with more clapping and cheering from his twin brother, he shows the completed picture to the camera five minutes later. 

“I-I’ll do my best for my game!” Riku declares.

He does the same things as Tenn; from accepting the red envelope from the past, beaming when Tenn does the drumroll this time, declaring his game (Tenn is right again; it _is_ the cookie game), to promising to do his very best to play the game and beat Tenn’s score when it will be his turn to play Riku’s game. It all goes well and according to plan.

Until it doesn’t.

Tenn doesn’t notice which bag it came from. There are five in front of Riku, each differently patterned. All of them contained different types of cookies, from vanilla sugar cookies to chocolate chips, and Tenn should have paid attention more. Should have done more than to focus on the camera and smiling for the audience who can’t even be seen. He should have looked at his brother more, even if it seemed unprofessional.

Because then he would have noticed which cookie it was. Which bag Riku took it from.

He hears Riku’s excited chatter first.

“Oh, this one looks really good! It has a handmade charm to it. I wonder if this is the cookie from that famous store,” Riku says, “I’ll take a bite!”

Tenn notices the confused look of one of the staff members next. From where he sits on the set, he could read her lips and somehow make out some words.

“That cookie...different…”

He should have reacted faster. Should have turned to Riku even just a second sooner. By the time he does look at his brother, Riku has already bitten down onto the cookie and begins chewing.

Hell breaks loose then, because shortly after, Riku starts to scream in pain.

“Nanase-san?!”

“Riku-kun!”

There is blood. That is the first thing Tenn sees. There are specks of blood on the floor and on Riku’s palm as the boy continues to cough badly. There are staff members rushing onto the set and patting his back and urging him to spit out the cookie. Riku’s face is a mask of excruciating pain and there are _tears_ streaking down his cheeks and oh _god,_ there is so much blood coming out from his mouth.

When Riku spits out more of the cookie, something else comes out.

Tenn’s world comes to a complete standstill the moment he sees what is on the floor, covered with blood and saliva.

Needles. The cookie Riku bit into has needles.

That finally breaks him out his reverie. He roughly grabs the bag of cookies and pulls one cookie out. Carefully, he breaks it into half, his eyes widening in shock when he sees more needles. He breaks another cookie and sees the same thing. Then another and another.

Riku was given a bag of cookies filled with needles.

“Who’s responsible for these cookies?!” he shouts, momentarily uncaring of the camera on him. When no one answers him, a shot of anger rises up from within him and he’s about to yell again when he hears a very familiar wheeze.

He turns back to look at his brother, only to find him clutching at his chest as he breathes out harshly, his mouth still bleeding and his eyes still filled with tears. 

Crap. Of course. The panic. The blood. Tenn’s own foolishness that caused him to lash out in anger when in reality he should be attending to his brother as quickly as possible.

Riku is having an attack.

“Nanase-san, Nanase-san.” Tenn crouches in front of Riku, his hand on the boy’s back. “Hey, hey. None of that now. Come on, focus on me, okay?” Riku is still wheezing and he couldn’t even speak from the pain. It’s hard to stay calm in this situation and to be honest, all Tenn wants to do now is to lash out some more.

Who did this to his brother? And why?

“Nanase-san, come on, look at me,” he urges, his hands cradling Riku’s face and careful not to tilt his head too far back. He doesn’t want to risk Riku choking on his blood. Around him, he could hear yelling and screaming and frantic calls for the ambulance. Tenn tries not to listen in. His own heart is pounding and the adrenaline from everything that’s happening is threatening to push him off the edge.

Still, he tries to ground himself. For Riku’s sake.

“Riku,” he whispers when he’s sure no one is listening, “Follow big brother, okay? Follow your Tenn-nii. It’s all right. You’ll be okay. Breathe in? Breathe out.”

Riku is trying to follow but Tenn could tell the panic is still rushing through his veins.

“You’re going to go to the hospital soon, okay? Don’t swallow any of the blood. Just spit everything out.” His touch becomes encouraging when Riku does just that, coughing out more blood from his mouth. His breathing is starting to calm down. Distantly, Tenn hears the sounds of footsteps rushing in. Are the pandemics here already?”

“T-Tenn-nii…” Riku whines softly, “It h-hurts…”

Tenn lets out a shuddering breath. “I know, Riku. I’m sorry. It’ll be okay. They’ll take you to the hospital now, okay? Riku...Riku?” He feels the boy’s body relaxing too quickly. He’s falling limp into his arms. “Riku?! H-hey, stay with me! Riku!”

Tenn doesn’t know how long he had been screaming Riku’s name until he realizes Riku’s already on the stretcher and Anesagi is frantically trying to pull him away from his brother.

It is a while later when Tenn is back in the green room and the staff members are fussing for _him_ this time, handing him blankets and something to drink to “calm him down”, that Anesagi finally sits in front of him and runs him over with the details of the incident.

By then, Tenn has already changed out of his hoodie into cleaner clothes and seeing the blood specks on the sleeves reminds Tenn of how _real_ the situation was. Riku is hurt. Riku had been in a lot of pain and for a moment, all Tenn could do at that moment was _watch._

“They found this in the cookie bag,” Anesagi says quietly. She sounds as if she’s choosing her words carefully, as though one wrong thing could lead to Tenn flying off the handle again. 

She slides a card across the table. It has a fancy design with a red lace border over a white background. There is something written across it in red ink. No. Tenn takes the card, squinting at it. That’s not red ink. That’s...dried blood.

_To my dearest Nanase Riku-kun,_

_I hope with this gift, you will remember me forever._

“It’s a fan of his,” Anesagi murmurs, “There is a security footage of a girl sneaking into the waiting room and switching the cookies before running back out.” She slides another thing towards Tenn. This time, it is a photo. Tenn’s hand is trembling when he reaches for it. “This is a polaroid photo from his birthday photo op event earlier this morning. The staff was supposed to mail it to her after Nanase-san signed it.” 

The girl in the picture...matches the girl in the security footage. 

It’s what Tenn fears. Riku had gotten himself an obsessive fan.

He feels a hand on his shoulder and only realized then that he is trembling from rage, his hand already crumpling the photo. Anesagi is looking at him when Tenn lifts his head to meet her gaze, and his manager shakes her head.

“Takanashi Productions are already taking measures. They’ll handle it from here.” She squeezes his shoulder as if to comfort him. “Don’t do anything rash, Tenn.”

Tenn doesn’t feel any comfort from her touch, but allows her words to ground him to reality.

“Okay,” he says with a shaky exhale.

Riku is awake when Tenn visits him at the hospital.

His younger brother waves to him cheerfully when Tenn enters his hospital ward with a fruit basket in hand, but does not speak. The nurse who is attending to him tells Tenn that while Riku’s mouth injuries were shallow cuts and required no stitches, they put plenty of numbing gel on his wounds to help with the pain and discouraged Riku from speaking for a few hours.

“His asthma symptoms have been managed,” the nurse tells him kindly, “As long as he’s not stressed, he’ll be fine and will be free to leave tomorrow.” She pauses before leaning in to whisper into his ear in a conspiring manner. “Riku-kun called you Tenn-nii once or twice while he was still on his medication. You two must be really close friends.”

Tenn smiles. “Something like that.”

Once they are alone, Tenn notices the sketchbook on Riku’s lap, furrowing his brows at the object in curiosity. As if reading his mind, Riku beams before taking a marker pen from his hospital gown pocket and writing on the paper.

_Nurse-san told me to communicate like this for a few hours! It’s kinda fun!_

“Is it?” Tenn asks as he takes a seat beside Riku’s bed, “Well, you seem cheerful at least. Are you still in pain?”

Riku shakes his head. _When I woke up, my mouth already felt numb and tingly and Nurse-san said my injuries weren’t serious! I can’t eat any hard or spicy or sour food for a while though…_

“They’re right, you know. We don’t want the cuts in your mouth to hurt. Ah, but then…” He glances at the fruits in the basket. “I guess you can have those when your cuts have healed.”

_Will you cut the apple for me?_

Tenn fights back a smile. “Maybe,” he indulges, “When I visit you at your dorms. You can always ask Izumi Mitsuki to do it, though.”

_I want Tenn-nii to do it!_ Even through writing, Riku knows how to sound insistent. Tenn chuckles before he reaches to ruffle his brother’s red locks.

“You’re so spoiled, Riku,” he chides. Riku merely giggles and leans into Tenn’s touch. Tenn rests his hand on Riku’s hair for a moment, his fingers curling in slightly. Riku must have noticed because he’s peering at Tenn now, blinking his eyes in confusion.

“You’re so careless, Riku,” Tenn says softly.

Riku blinks again.

“You’re so careless and things could have easily gone worse in that situation. What if you had swallowed the cookies? You would have damaged your throat! I told you before that in this industry, you need to be extra vigilant when it comes to food and drinks. Inspect things before you consume them! I’ve taught you how to do it subtly, didn’t I?”

Tenn doesn’t know why he’s ranting like this. All he knows is that he can’t stop.

“A fan gave that to you,” he adds angrily, “An obsessive fan who wanted you to remember her so she gave you that. If you had bothered to even break the cookie apart before you put it in your mouth, you would have known that -,”

He stops when he sees Riku’s expression slowly crumbling and realizes what he’s saying. He pulls his hand back and covers his mouth with it, his own expression morphing into shock.

“I- I’m sorry, Riku,” he says hurriedly, “I d-don’t know why I said that. I…” Tenn’s head is spinning and his chest feels tight. He’s such an idiot. Scolding Riku isn’t going to help things. If his words causes stress, he’ll be directly responsible for any possible attack and Riku’s already been through so much today -

He feels a hand on his own. He looks up and sees Riku holding out the sketchbook at him, his face a mask of concern.

_Are you okay, Tenn-nii? You’re shaking._

Dammit. He didn’t notice that he is until someone else pointed it out to him again. Tenn tries to exhale a breath, but it comes out as a shaky exhale and before he could help it, his vision suddenly blurs with tears. No, no, this _can’t_ be happening, he is _not_ about to -

“I’m sorry, Riku,” he whispers, his voice breaking, “It wasn’t your fault. I was just…” A single tear rolls down his cheek, followed by another and another. He doesn’t want to cry, but he can’t stop his tears. “I was so _weak_ , Riku. For a moment, all I could do was _look_ at you. Then, I got angry and panicked when I should have attended to you more quickly. Riku, I…”

He covers his face with his hands, bending forward in his seat as if crumpling into himself. “I’m sorry your big brother is so weak, Riku,” he chokes out.

It’s embarrassing crying openly like this, even more so in front of Riku. Riku’s the one who’s hurt yet Tenn’s the one who’s hurting so much. He doesn’t understand why. He’s the older one; he should be stronger than this and yet -

He hears a shuffling of movement before he feels a pair of arms pulling him close. Having Riku hold him like this and no one else in the room, Tenn allows the last of his barriers to fall.

He grips Riku’s hospital gown and cries, and continues to do so as Riku hums a song to him comfortingly. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift for someone on Twitter ^^
> 
> Kudos/comments/bookmarks are appreciated and you can find me on Twitter at @tennssi0907 !


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